


Taste of Second Love

by ohmiyaskdesu



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Angst, Arashi - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Japanese, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-27
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 11:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3172680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmiyaskdesu/pseuds/ohmiyaskdesu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His ideal of first love wasn't exactly what he thought it would turn out, when she decides to leave him. That's when he meets a person that he ends up relying on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It was two years ago when he met her, the woman he was destined to be with. It was from the day they met when she accidentally spilled coffee on his shirt. To the day the two started dating. The woman he fell in love with was his exact type: beautiful, natural, calm, and obvious. It was when the two started to date seriously. Saying 'I love you' to each other. Staying at Love Hotels when they had free time.

On the year and a half they were dating, he proposed to her. When she said yes, everything was decided: their future, their life, and most importantly, their test of love during their engagement period. But what the groom-to-be didn't know was that his lover met someone special, someone from the past.

Ever since his woman met that person, their relationship started to change. They would have a fight or two that would lead to nonsense. Secrets were being kept from him. She would make excuses just to meet that person and of course, he would believe it.

When they finally reached their wedding date, he was prepared while she had second thoughts. As the music started and the beautiful young bride walked down the aisle, he smiled brightly at her. She saw him and smile back nervously, though he couldn't tell because of her veil. When the priest asked her if she will take the man beside her as her lawfully wedded husband and exchanged rings, tears slowly dropped from her eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder and asked her, ' what's wrong '. She just looked up at him and mouthed,' I'm sorry.'She pushed his hand away and ran outside the church leaving him heart broken and shattered.

On the night they were supposed to have their honeymoon, he went out drinking until he couldn't remember his own name. After he got kicked out for fighting and violating the bar, the depressed man just sat outside under the stars leaning on some lamp post.

' Need some help getting up?' the stranger asked him. He tried looking at the person but couldn't since it was too blurry. ' I don't need your help,' he slurred. But the stranger picked him up anyway and led him somewhere. Before a single hiccup came to him, he passed out.


	2. Chapter 1

It wasn’t easy waking up with a serious headache form a hangover, and having no recollection of what had happened to him. Like how he ended up in a small and shabby apartment room. Though none of that mattered, he just needed to sober up and take some pain relievers for his headache. Unaware of his surroundings, he headed to a room that he figure was a bathroom, ( because of the foul smell) and entered.

The cold touch of water splashing on his face relieved him a little of his headache. But something else seemed to bother him more. He just couldn’t put a finger on it, until he ran his hands under the flowing water from the faucet. Flashbacks of a church, a woman hiding her face under a veil, and the special event that was supposed to have a happy ending to it.

There, on his wedding finger was the gold ring that they exchanged. It pained him to see that ring, the ring that was supposed to officially let them be officially together, He wondered to himself why he even had it on. Raising his hand up, he allowed himself to harshly take the thing off his finger, and threw it somewhere he will bother not looking for.

“Hey,” a breathy voice called out from behind, startling Sho to turn around. “What was that? The thing you threw?”

“No…nothing,” Sho stuttered of nervousness, and looked away. “I…I dropped a coin here somewhere.”

The latter looked at the nervous man with a suspicious look on his eye, but didn’t ask any further questions since the latter started shaking. Maybe he was shy? “Anyways, I’m Masaki Aiba.” He smiled to get rid of the look he just had on earlier.

“Sho.” the newscaster said and turned around to make eye contact, “Sho Sakurai. Nice to meet you.” It was weird, he formally introduced himself to this tall man, unlike how he sloppily introduced himself to his other friends before he met them. Somehow, this tall man made him feel comfortable around him because of Aiba’s smile. All feelings of hatred, and nervousness disappeared. But it only lasted for a minute.

Sho tore his eyes away from their eye contact, and walked past through Aiba. He wanted to leave and go somewhere other than staying in a smelly apartment room. Somewhere he could go to and never be found again after losing someone he loved with all his heart. Somewhere he could go to where there are no people he could fall in love with.

Just as he was about to pick up his belongings that were laying on the floor, a forceful grab stopped him. “Where are you headed? You can’t just go yet, I still have to repay you back!" Aiba worriedly asked Sho.

“For what?” Sho asked without turning around.

“For taking you here with me from those bad guys at the bar running after us yesterday!” Aiba explained and showed Sho how mean looking those men were.

“Why, what did we do to make them run after us?” Sho then turned around to see Aiba imitating the running men.

“After I saw you talking to yourself under the street lamp while laying down there, I came up to you and asked of you were okay. When I picked you up, I saw those multiple bruises on your face. I figured it was from the men that were coming out of the bar that had angry expressions on and I smacked talked them. They got mad at me and then saw you and thought that I was working with you. So I ran as fast as I could until we ended up in this room. Then I took the opportunity to bandage your face up while you were sleeping. I watched you go to sleep and you were muttering something like, ‘don’t leave me.’ And tears were coming from your eyes. ” Aiba thoroughly explained without stopping.

Sho looked at Aiba surprised at what he just heard."Why are you so nice?"

Aiba shrugged, "dunno, I guess I'm just willing to help anyone that needs my help."

"Thank you," Sho said sincerely.

"Anytime," Aiba replied back with a huge grin on his face. "So...why did you go drinking last night? Something happened?" The tall man straight-forwardly asked.

Sho scrunched his eyebrows together, he didn't want to answer that question. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Aiba and tell him what happened to him. He's afraid. Afraid of what? Sho just couldn't bring himself to say why. He kept quiet for awhile looking at the floor, his eyesight blurring from the pre-tears that wants to come out.

Breaking the silence, Aiba spoke up first. "You don't have to tell me Sakurai-kun, I'll get some pain relievers from the near drugstore." After saying so, he ran outside leaving Sho to cry his heart out. It was the first time to cry that much since he got his first scar.

Little did Sho know that Aiba was watching him from the doorway.


	3. Chapter 2

A warm hand landed on Sho's back causing the latter to startle and turns around seeing Aiba's concerned face. Embarrased, he quickly turned his head the other way hastily wiping the dried tears on his face. He didn't want to be seen like this, even by a stranger. But Aiba didn't laugh at him or anything, but just simply smiled and showed concern for him.Sho wanted to smile back but he couldn't find himself to do it. He didn't even know the point of smiling back when he doesn't know how to anymore. His happiness, all of it, were gone starting from that day. Nothing was important to him anymore.

"Oi!"Aiba interrupted Sho's thoughts. "Drink your medicine." The taller man handed Sho the hangover medicine, and forced the man to drink it, despite the face the latter was making. Since coming here, he wanted to ask Sho, again, what happened. But he was afraid that he might cause the latter to cry more. Comforting the older man just seemed a better idea.

After drinking the medicine he was forced to take, he headed to the bedroom to gather his stuff, getting ready to leave and be nothing, but Aiba grabbed his wrist. He turned around and saw Aiba facing him with a serious face. Aiba's face made Sho feel sadder, since the man wasn't smiling. Just that radiance of smile that Aiba produced made him feel a bit better.

Aiba spoke up first, "Sho-chan, you can't continue to be sad."

Sho knew he was right. But when did he start calling his Sho-chan? Anyways, Sho was about to loosen his grip from Aiba but the taller man's gripped got tighter the more he tried struggling. Seeing that Aiba won't let go, he gave up and decided to listen to what the latter has to say.

"I can't leave anyone sad after just meeting them. I have to make you happy!" Aiba declared. This kind of decision was what Aiba decided to go on ever since he was a kid. Whenever he sees a friend of his upset, he can't leave them alone till he is happy. To him, it was just a natural thing since he likes seeing people happy and so on.

Sho thought it was stupid, but he strangely agreed to Aiba's decision. Then the latter smiled, showing his pearly white teeth making Sho blush a little.

+++

He let himself be dragged around by Aiba, whose tension went higher after leaving the apartment. Sure he was having some fun, but it wasn't enough to make him smile. The latter kept trying to make Sho smile by doing stupid stuff but gave up.

Aiba saw that he wasn't able to make Sho smile so he tried a different method. He brought Sho everywhere in Tokyo, to all the best places he's been to, and kept looking back to see if the older male was smiling, but he wasn't. All his plans weren't working. Usually, it would work in an instant and he'll be satisfied. But everything wasn't working for that man. Just as Aiba was about to give up, he thought of a place that he was sure of making the latter smile.

Aiba let go his grip from Sho's wrist and turned around to face the latter. "Sho-chan! Close your eyes!"

Startled from the sudden request, he said no. Just what is Aiba-san up to? He asked himself.

"Why?!"Aiba pouted. "Please do it! I promise I will leave you alone after!!!"

"Fine," Sho sighed. He did as he was told and allowed Aiba to do whatever that wierd man wanted to do. Once again, he allowed himself to be dragged about.

A few minutes later, Sho smelt something. He wanted to peek, but Aiba's hand tightly covered his eyes. But that smell, it was strangely familiar. Soon, a sound came after that familiar smell. The sound of...water?

Then he felt Aiba's hand go away from his eyes, meaning he was allowed to open it. Ahead of him, was the ocean. The scenery was beautiful: the ocean was sparkling under the afternoon sun, the people on the beach were smiling happily, and the aura around the beach was a good one too. The sounds of children's laughter, women talking, men competing, and babies crying was such a beautiful sound to his ears. He haven't felt nice before all the bad things had happened. The corners of his lips curled into a smile.

Aiba, who was starring at Sho the whole time, couldn't believe what he was seeing. His plan worked! "Hora! Sho-chan is smiling!" Aiba jumped up and down, grabbing Sho's hand in the process. Just seeing Sho smiled even made him happier that the next thing he did startled Sho.

Sho felt a soft feeling on his cheeks, making him turn to that reaction. The hyper man just now, kissed him on his cheeks.


	4. Chapter 3

Aiba continued to giggle happily as well as babbling nonsense about seals. He didn’t even bother to look at Sho who was starring at him with eyes wide open, oblivious to what he did.

Sho continued to gape stupidly at Aiba, unable to react at the sudden action. He didn’t know whether to feel flattered, disgusted, or both at the same time. But still, it was weird for a male to kiss another male. Then again, Aiba was the one who finally made him smile. He decided to ignore what just happened seeing that the latter didn’t care.

“Aiba-san, I’m hungry,” Sho complained. “I don’t have my wallet so you pay for it.”

Aiba, amused, agreed to treating Sho since he didn’t want to starve the poor man. Ever since seeing him in an awful state last night, he wouldn’t want to reject Sho. Seeing the man happy just satisfied him.

“Is a bar okay?” Aiba asked, scanning the street.

“Uh…sure,” Sho agreed.

So the two headed to a bar which was kind of isolated. The bar had less intimidating people same as the amount of lights in the place itself. There were a couple of drunk people messing with each other while the other people tried their best to ignore those drunkards. But the place was good enough for the both of them to eat and drink their hearts out.

10 mugs of beer later, the both of them were drunk as those people earlier. The two were laughing hysterically as if they were high, and they were poking fun at each other, ignoring other people staring at their childish acts.

“Sho-chan,” Aiba slurred. “You’re shorter than me. Hahahahaha.”

Sho stood up on the chair he was sitting on and looked down on Aiba. “No Aiba-san, I’m taller. Fufufufufufu.”

Aiba did the same as drunk Sho and became taller than the latter. “No Sho-chan, I’m still tall even if you did that.”

“Whatever!” Sho grumbled and sat back down, but he failed to do so as he fell from the chair and hit someone.

“Hey!” The person under him yelled. “Watch it!”

“What?!” Sho yelled back, still not getting up on his feet.

“I said WATCH IT !” The other man yelled and harshly pushed Sho off of him. The man took hold of Sho’s collar and punched him on his jaw. When the man let go, however, Sho grabbed the man’s wrist and punched him back. Soon, the two were in a bar fight.

Aiba, who was still standing on his chair, heard the commotion under him and realized that Sho was getting into a fight. He hastily jumped off his chair and ran to the two trying his best to break up the fight.

“Mou! Sho-chan stop it!” Aiba begged. But Sho just glared at him with hate in his eyes and resumed back to fighting the man he bumped into. Why had Sho changed even after he had made the man happy?

Until the police and the bartender had finally made the two stop fighting, the two were kicked out of the bar including Aiba.

“Why me too?!” Aiba yelled. “I didn’t do anything!!”

Aiba turned around, furious over his new friend for making him get kicked out of the bar. At least he didn’t have to pay for the food and drinks.

Sho moved to his side and saw the man who beat him up smirking at him. Only then that he was able to see what the man looked like. Black shiny hair, thick eyebrows, and a mole just above the man’s lips. In some way, the man looked oddly familiar.

The rapper was about to throw his fist at the man’s face when he heard Aiba yell.

“Sho-chan!!!!!” Aiba yelled. “Stop fighting!!”

He turned around and saw Aiba running at a fast and godly speed towards him with an angry look on his face. It seemed wrong to see Aiba with an angry expression since all he saw through the day was his pure smile. But he didn’t listen to Aiba as he continued to beat up the man under him who was soon knocked out after a few punches. He was stopped when Aiba had yanked him out of the way.

There was blood everywhere: his face, his hands, and his clothes. He closed his eyes and felt his warm tears slide down on the side of his face. He hid his true feelings from Aiba while they were drinking and eating. He pretended to laugh along with Aiba’s weird jokes and facts about who knows what. He pretended put on that same smile he had earlier, which was real, in front of Aiba.

While the two were drinking, and Aiba wasn’t paying anymore attention, Sho was thinking about her again. Through all the things he had done for her and the love he gave her. Wasn’t it all enough? And yet she had left him, probably for another man. He felt more betrayed like the time when his best friend had taken everything from him. Why are all the bad things happening to him?

“Hey,” Aiba kicked Sho’s side. “Get up, we can’t loiter ourselves on the street like this.”

Sho nodded and quickly wiped his tears from his face, but it was barely visible since it was already night time. Seeing that Aiba had offered his arm for Sho to walk, he took that offer but immediately he disapproved.

“Aiba-san!” Sho fumed. “Why do you have that bastard with you!”

“Because,” Aiba glowered. “You beat the man up and he’s unconscious. Obviously we needa take care of him.”

“No!” Sho disagreed. “Leave him in the streets to be picked up by the trash trucks!”

“Sho-chan! I can’t do that. That’s mean.”

“So! Just leave him be!”

“Sho-chan, shut up!” Aiba yelled and punched Sho, also knocking him out. “Geez, you can’t control yourself.” Since he was still kind of drunk, he hailed a cab and told the driver to bring them home.


	5. Chapter 4

There was an almost inaudible sound of a woman giggling coming from behind the closed doors followed by a series of laughter and moans of pleasure. Sho didn’t want to randomly invite himself in and interrupt the two since it was wrong to do so. But as he was about to leave, he heard the woman’s voice. A familiar voice that had been etched in his heart and mind.

“Stop it!” The woman moaned. “He’ll hear us!”

Hearing that voice again brought him back to believe she was there by his side. But who was she referring to as ‘us’?

Worried, he walked back to the closed door and slowly turned the knob revealing a man and a woman having intercourse. Sho couldn’t believe his eyes. He shouldn’t have walked in because he knows that it was wrong to walk in when someone is doing it. But isn’t this where her voice came from? No, that’s impossible. That’s not her, Sho nodded to himself.

Sho popped his head back out the door only to find that there was nothing ahead but darkness. No doors, no lights, no way out. He had no choice but to sneak into the closet.

When he made it into the closet, his perverted self couldn’t help but look through the open slits. There on the bed was a man, who Sho can barely make out, laying down while the woman was riding him. What a lucky bastard, Sho growled. Rather than looking away, he bore his eyes into the woman’s body. Her milky white skin that glowed under the tiny hints of light, her long locks of hair dangling down her body, and her face as oval as an egg.

“Nami?!” Sho gasped. It really was her. His ears didn’t deceive him for he deceived himself into thinking that the woman wasn’t her. He kicked the closet door open to try and save her from that imprudent man. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it as he found himself stuck in one place, unable to move. He struggled and struggled until he gave up. He looked down at the man to curse and spit at him. Instead, the man was looking up at him smirking…

+++

Sho’s eyes shot open as sweat rolled down the side of his forehead. He sat up and covered his face with his hands, relieved that it was only a dream. But the scenes and sounds were perfectly etched into his brain. Her face, her body, and that man who playfully smirked at him. He shuddered in disgust.

Just as he was about to lay back down and sleep some more, he heard someone grunting besides him. It must be Aiba who he remembered fell asleep on the bed last night.

“Oi, Aiba-san. Make me coffee,” Sho demanded.

The still body didn’t respond. So he tried again.

“Aiba-san, coffee!”

This time, the body moved and shoved the blanket down from his body. The person immediately sat up and turned to glare at Sho.

“Aiba-san co-”

Sho’s eyes widen. The person in front of him wasn’t Aiba. It was the guy yesterday from the bar.

“What the fuck?!” Sho yelled and pushed the guy off the bed. “The hell are you doing here?!”

“The hell was that for?!” The man yelled back at Sho. The guy stood up from the floor and dusted himself off. He continued to angrily glare at Sho as he walked out but stopped when a third party came.

Aiba stood in front of the man to block him from the door, “No. You can’t go just yet.”

“What the-” The man was about to argue but was stopped when Aiba shoved some pills on the man’s chest.

“Drink it cause you had a pretty rough fight last night with that idiot,” Aiba pointed at Sho and smiled kindly at the man. For sure the guy and agreed to taking it since he couldn’t deny the all-smiles-Aiba.

“Aiba-san!” Sho grumbled. “Take him out of here!”

“I can’t do that Sho-chan. I have to make you guys have to talk it out and get this over with.”

Behind those two, they didn’t hear the guy mumbling Sho’s name as if he heard that name from somewhere.

“Sho,” The guy mumbled. “I know that name from somewhere… Could it be…?!”

“SAKURAI SHO-SAN?!” The guy exclaimed.

“Yeah…”Sho answered. “How do you know my name?”

“It’s me!” The guy eagerly pointed to himself. “Jun. Matsumoto Jun!”

“Jun?” Sho mumbled, trying to recall if there was a person named Matsumoto Jun that he knows of. Jun…Jun-kun…MatsuJun?!

“MatsuJun?!” Sho piped up, his feelings of anger melting away. Suddenly out of nowhere, his best-friend showed up. It’s been years since he had since him and last talked to him. However it was bad luck that he fought him last night at the bar…

“Hey hey hey,” Aiba butted in. “How come both of you know each other?”

“He’s my best friend!” Jun and Sho pointed out in unison.

“Eh… I see. I’m Aiba Masaki,” Aiba introduced to Jun. “Yoroshiku ne~”

“Nice to meet you Aiba-san,” Jun responded.

+++

Sho couldn’t stop thinking about the last two days. Thanks to Aiba, he even met up with his best friend that he hasn’t seen since he was 7 years old. Sure it was a weird and unexpected reunion but something was wrong with the picture.

 

Throughout his childhood, his best friend Jun was there to be with him when he was alone. The many times when Sho was left to eat by himself in the dining room, Jun would always sneak in his house to eat with him and play after. They would tell each other their secrets and the recent happenings.

 

But it was during the time when Sho had a crush on one of his classmate. He told Jun all about her. How pretty she was, how wonderful her voice sounded, and her joyous laugh. 7 year old Sho didn’t even notice the jealous and hateful look in Jun’s eyes as he told him things about the girl.

 

While Sho wasn’t looking, Jun would try and give love letters to the one Sho had a crush on. He would flirt with the girl, and try to impress her. When Sho turned around, while Jun was still laughing with her, Sho would look at him in a funny way but Jun would just say that he told a joke. Sho believed it.

 

Until one day when it was nap time, Jun was set up next to the girl while Sho was unfortunately somewhere in the corner. He couldn’t sleep since he kept hearing little kid’s giggles. Irritated, he got up and saw Jun and the girl giggling, face to face. The two were just inches apart until it was decreased when Jun decided to give the girl a peck on the lips.

 

Infuriated, Sho ran to the bathroom, took a bucket of water, and splashed it on the two.

 

“How could you Jun?” Sho sobbed. “You know I like her…”

 

With that being said, Sho ran outside of the school until his butler found him crying under the rain.

 

Several weeks later, Sho still handn't brought himself to talk to Jun and apologize for his impulsiveness. He secretly asked his butler to let him out and see Jun but the butler disapproved. He told Sho that Jun had moved out after the day he found Sho crying.

+++

"God dammit," Sho remembered why he had come to hate the man. Of course he was happy seeing his best friend again, but remembering that time when he was betrayed made him angry. But that was a long time ago. He should've forgave him since they were just little kids that were experiencing things for the first time. It was stupid to be mad at Jun for that reason. So he decided to forgive the man.


	6. Chapter 5

Days passed which turned into weeks then months. Sho didn’t even notice it. The way Jun always asked to leave early and the excuses to use the bathroom. Until he caught Jun on his phone, arguing with whoever was on the other end of the line.

“NO!” Jun yelled. “I don’t pick my friends over you. I love you and you know that!”  
Sho saw the lines on Jun’s forehead crease deeper.

“Damn it, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Jun sighed.

Sho wasted no time on escaping, afraid of getting caught from eavesdropping. He didn’t know who the other person was but Sho knew that the person must be someone persistent. If it was Jun’s girlfriend, she would at least try to understand that there are other people in Jun’s life. If it was his mom, well, she just loves him. But the way Jun’s tone towards the other person was a different tone than how you would bicker with a parent. So it must be Jun’s girlfriend. He never mentioned about having one…

“Hey!” Aiba yelled from the table they had reserved. “Where are you going?! The table is here!”

“Oh,” Sho realized and walked as casual as he could back to the table. He tried to look like he heard nothing and that he never heard of the conversation Jun had. As much as he was trying to hide it, Aiba already saw the guilt in Sho’s eyes.

“What happened to Jun?” Aiba asked worriedly. He knew something must’ve happened by the way Sho’s eyes were darting back and forth from the bathroom.

“Nothing ok?!” Sho responded as he drew his eyes back to his plate when he saw Jun coming from the bathroom area. He resumed eating his food that he left unattended before he was heading to use the bathroom but collided with Jun’s conversation.

He turned to look at both of his friends, “Hey guys, I need to leave soon ok?” Jun announced as he was taking his seat back.

“Ok!” Aiba agreed and continued eating his dinner.

“Y-yeah sure,” Sho also agreed, still looking at his food trying not to show guilt to Jun. He really didn’t care if Jun was leaving early because this has been happening the last few months. He was used to it, but he still didn’t know that Jun had a girlfriend…

After Jun left, he pulled Aiba by the collar and started whispering some things like a detective would.

“WHAT?!” Aiba yelled as he stood up, all eyes on him.

Sho pulled Aiba down, his ears turning red. “Sit!” Sho commanded, embarrassed by Aiba.

“Sorry,” Aiba bowed and sat back down. “So…” he continued, “Jun-kun has a girlfriend? How come he never told us about her?!”

“I dunno,” Sho pondered and leaned back to his chair giving the time for him and Aiba to think. He really didn’t know though. Even if its true that they hadn’t seen each other for years, he remembered when they were kids, they swore that they would tell each other what happened or little secrets. But why does Jun want to hide his girlfriend from him and Aiba?

“I have an idea!” Aiba blurted out. “Let’s follow him!”

Sho shook his head, “I don’t know Aiba-san. We might get caught.”

Aiba scrunched his face together, obviously disappointed about Sho’s approval.

“But I’m as stealthy as a ninja!!!” Aiba whined.

Sho thought about it. What if Aiba’s idea was a good one? Besides in the situation they were in right now, he guessed Jun won’t tell them. Also for the fact that the three had been meeting each other for a couple of months, and Jun showed no sign of telling them.

“Fine,” Sho gave in. “We will tomorrow after he leaves.”

+++

Sho had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. Even if Aiba kept telling him yesterday on the way home that he was as stealthy as a ninja, Sho kind of doubted his words. Sure he had agreed to the plan, but he realized that the two of them hadn’t thought it out well since all Aiba did after was babble away about non-sense.

Sho sighed, he’s been sitting behind the fake palm trees with Aiba and there was no sign of Jun showing up.

“And then I was petting my monkey when-” Aiba giggled but stopped when he lowered his voice down and tapped Sho on the shoulder to look to their left.

Sho, alerted, moved the fake palm tree in front of them so they were out of sight. He intently paid attention to Jun’s action: Jun fixing his hair, his clothes, and the rings he was wearing on his fingers. Then he saw him straighten up, indicating that the person he was waiting for was present.

Sho saw Jun smile. “Hey!” the younger man called. He saw Jun run up to someone and he saw that it was a woman.  
Besides him, he heard Aiba gasp. “So you were right Sho-chan! He has a girlfriend!!”

Sho jumped a little, looking back and forth at Jun and Aiba making sure Jun didn’t hear. “Sssshhh!” Sho hushed the man. “Do you want to die?!”

Aiba shook his head.

“Then quiet ok?!”

Aiba drooped his head, “Ok…”

When both of them saw Jun swing his arm over the woman’s shoulder and disappear behind the theater door, the two hastily got out of their hiding spot, bought the same tickets Jun had, and followed them. They made sure that they were invisible from Jun, it was a good thing it was already dark inside.

As the two took the exact seats behind the two, they watched the couple chat and exchange kisses while flirting with each other.

Sho knew it, Jun was seeing someone and he didn’t tell them. A secret lover?!  
Sho pondered. Why would Jun have a secret lover?! They are all friends yet the younger man hadn’t told them about her. Is it because she was ugly?! Sho thought to himself again. Something wasn’t right.

He nudged the silent Aiba next to him. When the taller man didn’t respond, he looked at his direction only to find the taller had fallen asleep. Sho chuckled, “Wake up Aiba-san. We might lose them, movie is almost over.”

“Yea…” Aiba groaned and woke up. He rubbed his eyes, and followed Sho out of the room and back to their hiding spot again. Ten minutes passed by and Jun was out followed by the girl. He saw them holding hands, smiling happily at each other.

Sho eyeswidened. It can’t be?! Sho exclaimed in his thoughts, I know that’s not her! He punched the floor scaring Aiba who brought his hands to his shoulder.

“Calm down!” Aiba instructed.

However, Sho did the opposite. He slapped Aiba’s hands away, stood up, and walked over to the couple ignoring Aiba’s calls.

“Nami!” Sho yelled.

The woman besides Jun looked to the direction of the person that called her name.

Sho saw her eyes widen, and saw her drag Jun away. But he stopped them when he grabbed her wrist, pulled her away and punched Jun in the jaw.

“Matsumoto!” Sho snarled. “Why the hell is Nami with you?!”


	7. Chapter 6

“Fuck you Matsumoto!” Sho yelled as he dragged Nami away with him, ignoring Jun’s and Aiba’s calls. It’s the second time already since Jun had done the same thing when they were seven. He knows it was stupid to look back on that little thing but Jun had betrayed him again. Sho just barely met Jun and now, he stole someone important from him all over again. That man was just pure bad luck.

“Damn it Nami!” Sho grumbled as his grip on her wrist tightened. “Why did you leave me for that bastard?!”

“I-I,” she stammered trying to explain but couldn’t.

“Spit it out!”

“I… love him,” she confessed and whimpered when Sho tightened his grip more.

“The hell Nami?! I‘m the one you love,” Sho corrected her as he pushed her to a wall in an alley. Sho wasn’t in the right mind and he knew it too. He just couldn’t control himself anymore when he’s finally found his love, the one he was truly meant to be with. As much as he tried to be gentle with her, he couldn’t. He harshly stroked her cheek using his hand and left red marks on her soft, white cheeks.

“Sho, we don’t have to do this,” Nami whimpered.

But he shook his head in disagreement as he looked straight into her eyes the way he always did when they were about to kiss. He inched closer and closer until their lips were just centimeters apart, ignoring her quivering lips.

Then Sho smashed their lips together, forcing her to move her lips by bringing his hand behind her head and pushing her towards him. He ignored Nami hitting him repeatedly on his arm, the feeling of loss and heart broken no longer lingering. Sho loved her truly, but she refused to return the feelings.

“Why,” Sho cried and pulled himself away from her. “Why him?”

“I…He loved me when you didn‘t,” Nami whispered and turned her head sideways covering her red face.

Sho had the urge to hit her, but he couldn’t hit a woman. Instead, he brought his hand back down and slowly walked to the wall opposite of them, skidding his back against the wall letting himself drop. It was hard for Sho, to process her feelings. He knew that deep down, even if she left him, she would always love him since after all, he was her first love too.

“You lied to me. I do love you,” Sho cried. “You lied to me…”

“I didn’t! OK!” Nami complained. “I do love you, but not the same anymore.”

“Just shut up,” Sho sniffed. “My parents were right, I should have listened to them.”

Then Sho felt a sting on his cheek and realized Nami had slapped him. He looked up and saw her face. Her eyebrows were together making those wrinkles on her forehead, she was breathing in and out furiously. 

“If you knew they were right, then why did you pick me in the first place!!!” Nami yelled.

Sho stood and formed a fist. “Because I love you! Didn’t I say that to you already?!?!”

Nami slapped him again. “Then we never should have met!” She shrieked. Then Sho finally snapped, he brought his fist up but someone else had grabbed it.

“Get a hold of yourself Sakurai!” Jun yelled and pushed the older man away from Nami. He saw Jun rush back to her and held her tight in his arms.

“I’m going to kill you Matsumoto!!” Sho angrily declared as he rushed back to Jun, pulled him from Nami and punched his square in the jaw.

“Sho, I’m not going to fight you. Just get a fucking hold of yourself already!” Jun screamed as he wiped blood from the corner of his lip. 

“I don’t give a fuck,” Sho said and punched Jun again.

“Sho please!” Nami begged, pushing Sho away from Jun. But she fell, and Sho realized that he hit her. He walked back slowly, looking at his own fist in disgust. 

“That’s it,” Jun said. “I’m going to kill you for hurting her.”

“Not so fast!” Aiba butted in just in time to stop blood from coming out of both men. “No one is fighting.”

“Shut Aiba-san. You’re not involved,” Sho grumbled as he grabbed Jun’s collar.

“STOP!!!!!” Aiba yelled again, running to the savage men and forcefully breaking them apart. 

“Fighting is not the solution. Sho let’s go home,” Aiba instructed before the Sho and Jun had the chance to fight.

“Let me deal with him first.”

“No. We’re going home,” Aiba pressed on and dragged Sho away from the scene.

“NO!” Sho yelled.

“YES!” Aiba yelled back.

“LET. GO.” Sho demanded. He struggled from Aiba’s strong grip, but the younger man didn’t do as he said. Just as he was going to punch Aiba, he felt himself being shoved into his own car while Aiba was already getting inside the driver’s seat.

“Home,” Aiba just simply stated and locked the door to prevent Sho from leaving the car. He heard the latter sigh heavily, indicating that he was upset. 

+++

“Sho-chan, you can’t leave anymore since we’re out in the road,” Aiba mentioned.

It’s been hours since they left the theater and yet Sho was being like a rebellious teenager: ignoring Aiba’s words, kicking the bottom floor of the car, punching his legs, and crying his heart out.

“Sho, I’m not your freaking baby sitter. Just shut the fuck up!” Aiba snapped.

Sho crossed his arms.“Hpmh,” he turned his head and looked out in the window, then his eyes widened as his arms uncrossed and fell to his side.

“Aiba-san,” Sho innocently asked him. “Where are you taking me?”

“Where else?” Aiba grinned.

Sho knew where they were going, but he wasn’t sure if they were going to the place he was thinking of.

“Now just sit and shut up before I kick you out of your own car.”

With that being said, Sho closed his lips and continued looking out the window…

+++

Sitting besides Aiba on the soft sand helped him release some of his anger out. The ocean waves soothed him of his feelings as if the waves were taking his anger out on the pillars that were being hit. He breathed in the ocean air and wiped the dried tears from his face.

“Sho-chan, feeling better?” Aiba asked the man who’s eyes were huge like a kid’s eyes were when they got the toy they wanted.

“Yeah. Kind of,” Sho answered and breathed in some more of the ocean breeze.

Aiba smiled and patted the older man‘s sloping shoulder. “I knew this would calm you.”

“Thanks Masaki.”

“Sho-chan!!!” Aiba gasped. “You finally called me by my name!”

“Yeah. I just feel like being nice to-” Sho was explaining but was cut off when he felt Aiba’s lips on his own.

“Actually,” Aiba fidgeted as he broke the kiss and turned away to hide his blushing face. “I’ve always had feelings for you ever since I first met you."

“WHAT?!”


	8. Chapter 7

Sho blinked once or twice to make sure he was hearing Aiba’s words correctly. He even shook his head and slapped his own cheeks making sure that he was himself at the moment. Surely enough, Aiba was just starring back at him with a glint of hope in his eyes.

Sho shook his head, flabbergasted and unsure of his own mind. “I-I’m sorry Aiba-san. I can’t- I don’t know what to- Sorry. I’ll go now,” Sho apologized hastily and quickly went inside his car and drove away, leaving Aiba to sulk by himself under the dark sky. It’s not that Sho hated Aiba for confessing, it’s just that he was so confused and too many things happened to him in that same day. 

“Fuck Jun,” Sho mumbled to himself. It was all Jun’s fault to begin with. If he didn’t even meet Jun, none of this would have happened. Better yet, if Jun wasn’t even born, none of this would happen to Sho. He would live a nice pace in life, married, have children, and he never would have met Aiba. “Aiba…” Sho closed his eyes, remembering all the good memories that Aiba had given him.

Ever since that euphoric man came to his life, things changed and he began to smile bit by bit. He even learned to trust people on his own because Aiba was always there giving Sho support, and cheering him up when he was down. It was also thanks to Aiba that he almost learned to forget about Nami.

“Shit!” Sho cursed. He remembered why he was out in a night like this in the first place. Aiba had brought him to the beach and now he felt guilty; he left the tall man all by himself out there.

As soon as Sho finally reached the beach, Aiba was nowhere to be found. He even checked the last place they were chatting and the latter was nowhere to be found. Sho panicked. So he ran everywhere, searching for Aiba around the beach, the rural areas, and the city until he ended up in front of Aiba’s apartment building. He could see, from where he was standing, that the lights in the latter’s house was brightly lit. Without a second thought, he rushed upstairs almost knocking over some people along the way. 

“Aiba-san!” Sho yelled at the top of his lungs as he knocked loudly against the apartment door. “Open up, please!” 

There was no answer and Sho knocked a few more times; the door didn’t budge open at all. He wanted to give up, but with a little hope left in him he tried the door knob. Fortunately, the door opened and Sho dashed through the door while hastily taking off his shoes. He wasn’t even able to question himself as to why Aiba had forgotten to unlock the door. 

“Aiba-san!” Sho called out from the living room. Once again, there was no answer. Nothing but the silent wind whispering and taunting him. He opened his mouth to shout but he closed it when he heard a new sound embedding in from Aiba’s room. The shower was open and it was on blast. He slowly crept inside Aiba’s room and found that the door leading to the bathroom was open. He immediately rushed to the bathroom and exposed a crying Aiba in the shower under the rushing water. Worried, Sho turned the faucet off, picked Aiba up and brought him to his bedroom. He placed a towel, that he picked from the floor, and laid it gently over Aiba. 

“Hey,” Aiba weakly sounded out. Despite the tears that were still falling down his face, he smiled and shook Sho’s hands away from him. He crawled over to his bed and laid there, not moving or saying anything at all but his steady breathing and sniffling.

“Aiba I-” Sho started but cut himself off when he realized Aiba had pulled the towel over his head. He knows how much Aiba was hurting and he’s been there before. But it wasn’t like Aiba to be so down and quiet. Instead, he stood up and headed for the door looking at the latter one last time before closing the door and probably never seeing him again.

 

“Wait,” Aiba groaned. “Don’t. Leave.”

Sho turned around and nodded his head; he would never leave a friend in need. He slowly walked over to his friend’s side and patted his back trying his best not to make everything awkward. 

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Aiba apologized. “I know you are in a tough time but I just couldn’t help it Sho-chan,” he paused and continued, “your face tonight was just…beautiful.”

Sho gulped. The words coming out from Aiba’s mouth sounded sincere and meaningful. He didn’t know how to reply to Aiba so he just simply nodded his head and looked away. 

He pulled his hand away from Aiba’s back and just sat there until the taller male had fallen asleep. 

His mind was telling him to leave but at the same time, his heart told him to stay and take care of Aiba. And so he listened to his heart dried Aiba’s hair for him, and changed his clothes to a dry one to avoid getting a cold. Sho smiled to himself, happy that he has finally done something nice to Aiba.


	9. Chapter 8

Sho left first thing in the morning. Despite his mind telling him to let go of what happened yesterday, he couldn’t. He had to set things straight, once and for all.

It was only a matter of minutes when he coincidentally found the couple sipping and chatting over coffee across the street from him. He watched them laugh and stare into each other’s eyes and share a brief kiss right after. Sho’s fists formed into a ball, ready to kill that damn bastard.

Jun didn’t see it coming.

“Fuck you!” Sho grabbed Jun from the shoulder and punched him straight in the face. “You don’t fucking deserve her!”

The younger male just kept his face away from Sho and sat there, wiping the corner of his mouth. Sho wanted to see him like that: on the floor and writhing in pain just like how he had felt. In all those time he had to suffer in pain, watching his life pass by like time. Of all those times, it was Jun who had made him suffer like this. It’s his turn.

Behind him, he could hear Nami wail, and beg him to stop. That bitch got nothing on me, he glares at her. She’s worthless. She should have stayed with me instead of this…this asshole!

Sho grabbed Jun by the head, turning him around so his back was against the floor, and punched him repeatedly. Every minute, Sho was getting angrier and angrier.

“How come your not fighting back?!” Sho yelled at Jun’s disoriented face. “Fight back!”

Jun did nothing and just continued letting Sho punch him. He didn’t move a muscle except for closing his eyes when Sho’s fist met his face.

“Please…” Sho heard Nami cry behind him. “Let him go…”

Sho ignored her and continued punching Jun like a doll. He ignored all the blood pouring from the man’s face and he laughed maniacally, watching Jun suffer in pain.

Then, the bell hanging on the door of the café rang. Sho didn’t notice this as he continued hitting Jun, the blood spilling on the floor. Before he could even kill Jun with one more punch, a pair of strong hands grabbed him and pulled him away, leaving Nami to cry over Jun’s unconscious body.

“Just who the fu-” Sho was about to curse this person when he turned around and saw Aiba, his eyes red from crying again and his hands all bloody. Once again, Aiba had stopped something even worse, like death, from happening.

“Oh my god,” Sho took Aiba’s hands in his. “I’m so sorry.”

Aiba wasn’t supposed to see him like this. He wasn’t supposed to see him turn into a uncontrollable monster before Aiba’s innocent eyes. Sho didn’t even realize he turned into a monster once he saw Aiba’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Sho muttered into Aiba’s hand. “You weren’t supposed to see me like that…”

Aiba shushed him. “Save it,” he says. “You just have no control over your anger.”

“But I was-”

Aiba lifted his head and let his reddened eyes bore on Sho’s face. “Your anger is the reason why people leave you.”

What Aiba said would have made Sho even mad. But he couldn’t stay mad as he watch Aiba blink twice and leave him standing like an idiot with blood pouring from his fingers.

+++

Over the next few days, Sho received a hearing from court and was sentenced to jail for 3 months from assaulting a citizen and almost killing him. He didn’t hear another word from Aiba, nor did the latter even bother to contact him.


	10. Chapter 9

Sho never thought the dreadful day would come when his parents visited him in jail. His parents always expected more of him and behind their eyes; he was never the same to them anymore. He knows they are playing fake pity, but his sister and brother were the most worried. 

“It’s ok Mai,” Sho speaks through the telephone. “You can visit me anytime you want.” But he didn’t want her to; he didn’t want her to see him in such a wrong place.

He hears his sister sniff, knowing she had cried from hearing his voice in a long time. “Ok,” She breathes. “I-I’ll be t-there to-tomorrow.”

“Bye,” Sho sighs and hangs up the phone. It pained him to hear his sister’s sad voice over the phone and letting her know how bad a person he is. When he grew up with his sister, she always looked up to her brother and she even worked on the same firm as him. He didn’t mind this because he loved his little sister, and she was the next best thing to him. Then there was his little brother. What will he say to him?

“Hey!” a man with gruff voice grabbed him roughly by the arm. “You have a visitor.”

It’s been a long time since he had a visitor, other than his parents. They always dropped by on Mondays during the afternoon; never was it they dropped by in the middle of the week. “Who is it?” Sho asks the guard.

The guard doesn’t answer, and just pushes him harshly into the visitor’s room. He could see other prisoners being visited to as he wasn’t the only one. Some prisoners looked like they cried as he sees them holding their child in their arms. Sho pitied them more than himself. Walking the large room, he spots a table that was unoccupied of a prisoner and sat there, waiting for his unexpected visitor.

Someone taps him from behind, and Sho is immediately startled when he sees the familiar face. “Aiba-san?”

“Yup,” the tall male sat on the other side of the table. “I came to visit you.”

“I can see that,” Sho nods his head. “But don’t you hate me?”

Then he sees Aiba look down so he couldn’t see the latter’s expression. “I wanted to,” he pauses, “but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was only mad for a second, and then regretted it when I left you…”

“Oh.”

As time passed the two talked on and on about whatever, the topic always changing from one another, their breathes never dying down. Unfortunately, the guard said that his hour was up and so he was forced back in his jail cell. He never got to say goodbye as he knows he’ll see him everyday.

+

And so the cycle continued: Sho’s parents would visit him on Mondays, his siblings would visit him a day after, and Aiba would visit in the other days. While Aiba was around, Sho always laughed unlike with his parents, he was more serious. It irritated him how his parents were asking him if he considers taking his job back, and helping his family. But his parents are people that only cared for money and power. On the other hand, his sister and brother were what he missed the most. They were the two that always reminded him that he was a brother.

“You didn’t tell me you have a sister!” Aiba gasps as Mai sat down next to Sho. “And a little brother!”

“Oh yeah,” Sho remembered. “I never did.”

“It’s ok,” Aiba pats him in the shoulder. “At least we know each other now.”

Sho had asked his siblings to come and visit since he had the urge to let his siblings now Aiba. He didn’t even know himself why, but he felt elated just seeing the three get along so well. However, Sho didn’t want Aiba to ever meet his parents. He’s afraid that they will talk foul about Aiba and blame him because Sho refuses to go back to work, but he knows Aiba wasn’t the reason why he refuses. 

+

“Sakurai Sho!” The judge called his name. “You are free to go.”

It didn’t feel like 3 months at all. He felt like he’s been in jail for a month and got visited by the people he enjoyed. Maybe it was his surroundings?

“Thank you,” Sho bows. “I’ll go now.” With his sister and brother besides him, he fixed his tie and left the court. He could finally be free from the hell hole, and never have to eat their disgusting prison food. In retrospect, Sho had forgotten the reason of going to prison, and what he had done. The name Jun and Nami didn’t even ring a bell.

“Come!” his thirteen year old brother dragged him. “Can we go out?”

Sho grabbed his brother and hugged him tightly. “Sure where to?”

“Hmm…” His brother was thinking. “Can we go somewhere with Aiba-san?”

“Yeah!” his sister pulled on his arm. “Can we?”

“Geez,” Sho slaps both of their hands from him. “You guys aren’t kids anymore. And sure, I’ll just call Aiba-san ok? Wait here.”  
While he walked a distance from his siblings, Sho took out his cell phone that was brought in by his sister, and dialed Aiba’s number. It didn’t take Aiba long to answer the phone and Sho could hear Aiba’s breathing through the phone. “Aiba-san! Mai, Shuu, and I wanted to invite you to-”

Before Sho could even formally invite him, he could hear a loud whipping sound in the background followed by a muffled voice. “Aiba-san! Are you ok?!” Sho held his phone tighter. “What’s going on?!”

“It’s ok,” Aiba’s voice came out raspy. “I’m…fine.” 

“Doesn’t sound like it,” Sho said. “I’ll be there. Just wait for me.” With that said, Sho had to cancel their dinner plan, and rushed over to Aiba’s apartment. When he arrived, he saw a different car parked on Aiba’s parking space and rushed up to his apartment.

“Aiba-san!” Sho pounded on the door. “Open up!” 

“What?!” a mean looking man opened the door. “Leave! Masaki has no reason to see you.”

“But I need to talk to him!” Sho pushed the man from the door and saw Aiba sprawled on the floor, unconscious. Aiba’s apartment was darker than it used to be, and every window was blocked closed. He could see Aiba’s body sprawled on the floor, unconscious and barely breathing. 

“Leave dammit!” The man pulled Sho back. “My son has nothing to do with you?!”

“Your son?” Sho glared at him. “How could you do this to your own son?”

“That kid,” Aiba’s father spat. “He has no right to live. His younger brother’s better than him. Now leave! You have no business with him.”

“Actually,” Sho’s hand landed on the latter’s shoulder. “I do.” Then Sho did the last thing he wanted to do on Earth by punching Aiba’s dad unconscious. He saw nothing wrong in what he did as he picked up Aiba’s body off the floor and rushed him back home.

+

The following morning, Sho woke up earlier than Aiba and made green tea for the taller male. As he waited for Aiba to wake up, he couldn’t help but notice the dark bruises, that weren’t there the day before, forming on his arms and face. When Sho touched it, he sees Aiba wince a little and pulled away.

“Sho-chan,” Aiba rubs his eyes with the back of his hands. “What am I doing here?”

Sho stayed quiet, and gave Aiba his already cold tea and a pain killer. After the latter had drunk it all, he left without saying anything and rushed to the bathroom far away from his room.

What was I thinking? Sho hits himself. Why am I always looking at him like that? Ever since Aiba told Sho that he didn’t hate him, Sho had always been soft around the guy. He would always smile the first thing when Aiba pops behind the door to the visiting room and would frown after Aiba left. Maybe it’s because he’s been alone for 3 damn months.

“Sho-chan,” He could hear Aiba’s voice. “Where are you?”

Straightening himself out and splashing water on his face, he quickly wiped it and left the bathroom to attend to Aiba’s side. What will he say when Aiba asks him again?

“Sho-chan,” Aiba plays with the food on his plate. “Why am I here?”

“Truth be told,” Sho played with his breakfast too. “I punched your dad yesterday and brought you here.”

“You what?!” Aiba stood up, the chopsticks falling on the floor. “I thought you were over violence!”

“I was,” Sho puts a small piece of egg in his mouth. “But your dad was…abusing you.”

“I-I have to go,” Aiba runs from the kitchen. “My dad will kill me if he finds out what you’ve done.”

It only took Sho a few seconds to react so he pulled Aiba back from the door, and sat the man down on his white couch. “Look,” Sho says. “I don’t know what’s going on, but please don’t go back.”

“Why?” Aiba asks him. “He’s my dad and I’m worried about him.”

“I know!” Sho pushes Aiba back down on the couch. “I just don’t…” Sho paused, his eyes looking somewhere else. “…want you hurt.”

“Oh,” he hears Aiba breathe. “I see. But I really need to go!”

“No!” Sho pushed the latter down. “Stay here.”

Neither Aiba nor Sho saw it coming. It was unexpected and Sho didn’t intend for it to happen this way. He left his eyes open and found himself closer to Aiba’s face, his lips on Aiba’s trembling mouth.


	11. Chapter 10

“I said everything is going to be fine!” Aiba dragged Sho to a small house. “I’ll be by you all the time, ok?”

Sho gulped, not wanting to be forced to say sorry to the man he hated. Even if it was the right thing to do, as Aiba said, he had no will to even ring the doorbell, get invited inside for a cup of tea, and apologize. All these ideas seemed foreign to Sho that he wanted to stay home and love Aiba all day.

“But I can’t,” Sho whined. “I know he’s going to hurt me!!”

Aiba abruptly stopped, making Sho bump into his chest. “I promise,” Aiba grabbed the sides of Sho’s head. “Nothing will happen as long as I’m there.”

Sho slowly nodded his head, his cheeks being squished together by Aiba meant he was telling the truth. With no other choice than to obey, Sho took Aiba’s hand in his and both walked calmly to the entrance of the small house. Taking one last breath, Sho pressed the tiny doorbell. He could hear the cheerful ring in the house. 

The door opened revealing Jun with bandages on his face. “Who is-” He was about to ask, but stopped when he saw who it was. Sho couldn’t tell if Jun was glaring at him since his eyes were all swelled up.

“Hi,” Sho avoided eye contact with him. “I came here to-”

“I know,” Jun interrupts him and moves aside. “Come in, I‘ll make tea.”

Sho didn’t move his feet and so did Aiba. But after a few nudges from Aiba and a couple of weird looks from Jun, he finally took a step in Jun’s small home and took his shoes off, never letting go of Aiba’s hand.

While the three moved to Jun’s kitchen, Sho couldn’t help but look around the place. The kitchen was styled exactly like his back in his apartment, but the dominant colors were purple. He knows whose style it was: Nami. Back when the two moved in together in his apartment after begging her parents and finally getting an answer, she immediately went to work. He would purposely laugh at her because of being ever so clumsy. He would paint with the walls with her, and they would eventually end up in a paint fight, until they had a make up kiss fight after.

“Hey,” Aiba grasped his hand tighter. “You ok? You spaced out.”

Sho shook his head and smiled saying he was fine. He didn’t want to worry his boyfriend since he didn’t want to cause a fit while they were in someone else’s house.

“Here,” Jun pushes a cup towards Sho and Aiba. “Drink while it’s hot.”

From the corner of his eyes, Sho could see Aiba happily accepting the cup of tea, while gulping the whole thing down. Sho took his too, and sipped just a bit, his throat feeling warm, before setting it back down on the countertop. 

“Jun,” Sho looks at the said man. “I’m sorry about what happened, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“It’s ok,” Jun takes another sip of the tea. “I already forgave you. While you were away in prison doing your time, I was going to visit you but what I heard from Aiba,” Jun nods his head towards the brown haired man, “he said you were doing fine. I didn’t want to make things worse by just barging in and making you angry again. I know your temper.”

Sho turned to glare at Aiba, while his boyfriend pretended not to hear anything they were saying. “I understand,” Sho turns to face Jun again. “But I’m really sorry; I hope we can still be friends.”

“O-Of course!” Jun sputters. “You’ve always been my friend even if you hated me!”

“I told you!” Aiba gently pats Sho on the back. “Everything was fine after all.”

“Except for one thing,” Jun says in a serious tone. “I think it’s time you and Nami have a chat.”

Sho jolted up when he heard her name. He had almost forgotten her, despite the flashbacks earlier. He even forgot that Jun and Nami were together. As soon as he remembered, he found himself breathing calmly, his hand loosening from Aiba’s grip.

“It’s ok,” Sho gets up from his seat. “I can handle this. Just stay here and talk to Jun.”

Sho could see the uneasy feeling in Aiba’s eyes knowing how worried he will be. But he knows he’ll be fine since he was sure of it, and he wasn’t facing a man, it was just harmless Nami. He looked at Aiba one more time in the eyes, and then left the latter to Jun’s company.

After Jun had told him where Nami was resting, he wasted no time in walking straight to the room. Once he reached the room at the end of the hallway, Sho slowly turned the knob and found Nami resting on the bed. Back when she and Sho were together, he would always sneak up on her, and frightened her. Then they would have the longest chat and they would drift off to sleep, only to find Nami resting in his arms. Now, it was all too awkward to do the same thing. She was like a stranger to him.

“Nami?” His voice squeaked, but the breathing figure didn’t move, so he inched closer to the edge of the bed.

He called her name again, louder this time and with more confidence than before. 

The sleeping figure turned around slowly, but her eyes were closed. Sho chuckled a little, seeing how lazy Nami was.

“Jun is that you?” Her voice came out hoarsely like she was sick. 

“It’s me Sho,” he replied.

This time, Nami’s eyes flew open and she was fully awake. “W-what are you doing here? W-w-where’s J-Jun?” She was backing away from him like she was scared of him.

Sho couldn’t understand why she was doing that. He didn’t know what caused her to be so flustered and make such a face that he has never seen. Just as he was about to hold his hand out and say everything’s ok, he clamped his ears shut to avoid his ears from being broken into pieces.

“What’s wrong?!” Jun ran in the room, followed by a worried Aiba.

Nami pointed her thin finger at Sho. “Sho he-”

“Ssh,” Jun ran besides Nami and shushed her while caressing her hair. Sho would be jealous at this and angry. But he found it weird that he was just watching the couple, and seemed calm about everything.

“It’s ok,” He hears Jun whisper. “He only came here with Aiba-san to apologize to us.”

“Oh,” Nami whispers and looks at Sho with red eyes. “I’m so sorry Sho.”

“It’s ok,” Sho smiled bitterly. “It’s normal for you to act like that.”

After getting Nami to calm down, Jun pushed Aiba out of the room so Sho and Nami could speak alone. Even if Sho wanted Aiba to stay, he knows it’s best he stays out of it. Then again, he might snap and do something he didn’t mean to do…

“So you’re with… Aiba-san now?” Name asked in a small voice.

Sho nodded his head and kept his eyes on her face. The whole time he was talking to her, he was strangely calm. He always saw himself begging at the bottom of her feet, pleading to go back to him. But he never thought that he would just have a single calm chat with her.

“And you came here to tell me you’ve let go?” Nami continued asking him questions.

Sho nodded his head again, and this time spoke. “I’m sorry about Jun-kun. I never meant to hurt him or you. It was never my intention to-”

“Sho,” Nami cut him off. “It’s ok, I know you would eventually do that. But I’m glad to hear from Aiba-san how he managed to make you fall for him.”

Nami laughed and soon, her laughter turned louder and Sho found himself laughing with her. Sho quietly swears he’s going to have a chat with Aiba about keeping their life story from other people.

“Yay!” The door busted open revealing Aiba’s arms in the air, and Jun smirking by the doorframe. “They made up!”

“Masaki!” Sho’s cheeks flushed red. “Go away!”

“Nope!” Aiba puffed his cheeks. “Shall we all go out and celebrate.”

Sho looks around him and sees Jun smiling through the bandages, Nami wiping tears from her eyes, and Aiba hugging him from behind. “Sure,” he answers. “But keep me away from Jun!” Around him, the three were laughing and Aiba smacked his head.


	12. Chapter 11

“I said everything is going to be fine!” Aiba dragged Sho to a small house. “I’ll be by you all the time, ok?”

Sho gulped, not wanting to be forced to say sorry to the man he hated. Even if it was the right thing to do, as Aiba said, he had no will to even ring the doorbell, get invited inside for a cup of tea, and apologize. All these ideas seemed foreign to Sho that he wanted to stay home and love Aiba all day.

“But I can’t,” Sho whined. “I know he’s going to hurt me!!”

Aiba abruptly stopped, making Sho bump into his chest. “I promise,” Aiba grabbed the sides of Sho’s head. “Nothing will happen as long as I’m there.”

Sho slowly nodded his head, his cheeks being squished together by Aiba meant he was telling the truth. With no other choice than to obey, Sho took Aiba’s hand in his and both walked calmly to the entrance of the small house. Taking one last breath, Sho pressed the tiny doorbell. He could hear the cheerful ring in the house. 

The door opened revealing Jun with bandages on his face. “Who is-” He was about to ask, but stopped when he saw who it was. Sho couldn’t tell if Jun was glaring at him since his eyes were all swelled up.

“Hi,” Sho avoided eye contact with him. “I came here to-”

“I know,” Jun interrupts him and moves aside. “Come in, I‘ll make tea.”

Sho didn’t move his feet and so did Aiba. But after a few nudges from Aiba and a couple of weird looks from Jun, he finally took a step in Jun’s small home and took his shoes off, never letting go of Aiba’s hand.

While the three moved to Jun’s kitchen, Sho couldn’t help but look around the place. The kitchen was styled exactly like his back in his apartment, but the dominant colors were purple. He knows whose style it was: Nami. Back when the two moved in together in his apartment after begging her parents and finally getting an answer, she immediately went to work. He would purposely laugh at her because of being ever so clumsy. He would paint with the walls with her, and they would eventually end up in a paint fight, until they had a make up kiss fight after.

“Hey,” Aiba grasped his hand tighter. “You ok? You spaced out.”

Sho shook his head and smiled saying he was fine. He didn’t want to worry his boyfriend since he didn’t want to cause a fit while they were in someone else’s house.

“Here,” Jun pushes a cup towards Sho and Aiba. “Drink while it’s hot.”

From the corner of his eyes, Sho could see Aiba happily accepting the cup of tea, while gulping the whole thing down. Sho took his too, and sipped just a bit, his throat feeling warm, before setting it back down on the countertop. 

“Jun,” Sho looks at the said man. “I’m sorry about what happened, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“It’s ok,” Jun takes another sip of the tea. “I already forgave you. While you were away in prison doing your time, I was going to visit you but what I heard from Aiba,” Jun nods his head towards the brown haired man, “he said you were doing fine. I didn’t want to make things worse by just barging in and making you angry again. I know your temper.”

Sho turned to glare at Aiba, while his boyfriend pretended not to hear anything they were saying. “I understand,” Sho turns to face Jun again. “But I’m really sorry; I hope we can still be friends.”

“O-Of course!” Jun sputters. “You’ve always been my friend even if you hated me!”

“I told you!” Aiba gently pats Sho on the back. “Everything was fine after all.”

“Except for one thing,” Jun says in a serious tone. “I think it’s time you and Nami have a chat.”

Sho jolted up when he heard her name. He had almost forgotten her, despite the flashbacks earlier. He even forgot that Jun and Nami were together. As soon as he remembered, he found himself breathing calmly, his hand loosening from Aiba’s grip.

“It’s ok,” Sho gets up from his seat. “I can handle this. Just stay here and talk to Jun.”

Sho could see the uneasy feeling in Aiba’s eyes knowing how worried he will be. But he knows he’ll be fine since he was sure of it, and he wasn’t facing a man, it was just harmless Nami. He looked at Aiba one more time in the eyes, and then left the latter to Jun’s company.

After Jun had told him where Nami was resting, he wasted no time in walking straight to the room. Once he reached the room at the end of the hallway, Sho slowly turned the knob and found Nami resting on the bed. Back when she and Sho were together, he would always sneak up on her, and frightened her. Then they would have the longest chat and they would drift off to sleep, only to find Nami resting in his arms. Now, it was all too awkward to do the same thing. She was like a stranger to him.

“Nami?” His voice squeaked, but the breathing figure didn’t move, so he inched closer to the edge of the bed.

He called her name again, louder this time and with more confidence than before. 

The sleeping figure turned around slowly, but her eyes were closed. Sho chuckled a little, seeing how lazy Nami was.

“Jun is that you?” Her voice came out hoarsely like she was sick. 

“It’s me Sho,” he replied.

This time, Nami’s eyes flew open and she was fully awake. “W-what are you doing here? W-w-where’s J-Jun?” She was backing away from him like she was scared of him.

Sho couldn’t understand why she was doing that. He didn’t know what caused her to be so flustered and make such a face that he has never seen. Just as he was about to hold his hand out and say everything’s ok, he clamped his ears shut to avoid his ears from being broken into pieces.

“What’s wrong?!” Jun ran in the room, followed by a worried Aiba.

Nami pointed her thin finger at Sho. “Sho he-”

“Ssh,” Jun ran besides Nami and shushed her while caressing her hair. Sho would be jealous at this and angry. But he found it weird that he was just watching the couple, and seemed calm about everything.

“It’s ok,” He hears Jun whisper. “He only came here with Aiba-san to apologize to us.”

“Oh,” Nami whispers and looks at Sho with red eyes. “I’m so sorry Sho.”

“It’s ok,” Sho smiled bitterly. “It’s normal for you to act like that.”

After getting Nami to calm down, Jun pushed Aiba out of the room so Sho and Nami could speak alone. Even if Sho wanted Aiba to stay, he knows it’s best he stays out of it. Then again, he might snap and do something he didn’t mean to do…

“So you’re with… Aiba-san now?” Name asked in a small voice.

Sho nodded his head and kept his eyes on her face. The whole time he was talking to her, he was strangely calm. He always saw himself begging at the bottom of her feet, pleading to go back to him. But he never thought that he would just have a single calm chat with her.

“And you came here to tell me you’ve let go?” Nami continued asking him questions.

Sho nodded his head again, and this time spoke. “I’m sorry about Jun-kun. I never meant to hurt him or you. It was never my intention to-”

“Sho,” Nami cut him off. “It’s ok, I know you would eventually do that. But I’m glad to hear from Aiba-san how he managed to make you fall for him.”

Nami laughed and soon, her laughter turned louder and Sho found himself laughing with her. Sho quietly swears he’s going to have a chat with Aiba about keeping their life story from other people.

“Yay!” The door busted open revealing Aiba’s arms in the air, and Jun smirking by the doorframe. “They made up!”

“Masaki!” Sho’s cheeks flushed red. “Go away!”

“Nope!” Aiba puffed his cheeks. “Shall we all go out and celebrate.”

Sho looks around him and sees Jun smiling through the bandages, Nami wiping tears from her eyes, and Aiba hugging him from behind. “Sure,” he answers. “But keep me away from Jun!” Around him, the three were laughing and Aiba smacked his head.


End file.
